| 释义 |
Scarborough|ˈskɑːbərə|
Also 6 Scar-, Skarboro(w, Scarbrough, 7 Scarburg, Scarreborough.
The name of a town on the coast of Yorkshire, used attrib.
1. Scarborough warning. Very short notice, or no notice at all; a surprise.
The statement of Fuller, that the phrase originated in an allusion to the surprise of Scarborough by Thomas Stafford in April 1557, is disproved by the earlier example below.
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1562) E ij, A daie er I was wedde, I bad you (quoth I) Scarbrough warnyng I had (quoth he) wherby, I kept me thens. a1561T. Mountain in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. 189 Your friendship, Mr. Charlys, is but hard and scarce, in giving me this Scarborow Warning [viz. the notice that he was to be hanged ‘even this Foornoon’]. 1592Lyly Sp. to Eliz. at Quarrendon i. Wks. 1902 I. 455 The Knight wisheth it may be a watch (better than Scarborows warning) to the Noble Gentelmen of your Courte. 1603Bp. T. Matthew Let. 19 Jan. in Cardwell Confer. (1840) 166, I received a message..that it was his Majesty's pleasure that I should preach before him upon Sunday next; which Scarborough warning did not only perplex me, but [etc.]. 1697De la Pryme Diary (Surtees) 125 ‘Scarburg Warning’ is a proverb in many places of the north, signifying any sudden warning given upon any account. 1832Scott Redgauntlet ch. xix, The true man for giving Scarborough warning—first knock you down, then bid you stand. 1890P. H. Emerson Wild Life on Tidal Water 8 Tha wind wos werry moderate, but that shifted an' come round strong from the norrawest, an' hove her ashore; 'twos a Scarboro' warnin'.
†b. Hence in nonce-uses. Obs.
1577Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. iii. 12 in Holinshed, And withall, as far as their scarborrough leasure coulde serue them, they ransacke the Prince his thesaure. 1582― æneis iv. (Arb.) 116 Al they the lyke poste haste dyd make, with scarboro scrabbling [L. rapiuntque ruuntque].
2. Scarborough lily, Vallota purpurea.
1882Garden 9 Sept. 224/2 A correspondent sends us two blooms of the Scarborough Lily. |